Downtown Seattle:
Downtown is the central business district of Seattle, Washington. It is fairly compact compared to other city centers on the West Coast because of its geographical situation: hemmed in on the north and east by hills, on the west by Elliott Bay, and on the south by reclaimed land that was once tidal flats. It is bounded on the north by Denny Way, beyond which are Lower Queen Anne (sometimes known as "Uptown"), Seattle Center, and South Lake Union; on the east by Interstate 5, beyond which are Capitol Hill and First Hill; on the south by Yesler Way, beyond which is the International District and part of Pioneer Square; and on the west by Elliott Bay. Belltown, the Denny Regrade, and the rest of Pioneer Square are sub-neighborhoods of Downtown. Near the center of Downtown is the Metropolitan Tract, owned by the University of Washington, which originally had a downtown location. Seattle's main financial district, waterfront, and shopping area (surrounding Westlake Center and connected to Seattle Center by way of a monorail) make up the bulk of Downtown. It is also home to the landmark Pike Place Market.
Downtown Seattle's Columbia Center has a greater number of floors than any other building west of the Mississippi River, at seventy-six, though there are taller buildings in Texas and California by height. (Smith Tower, in the older section of Downtown near the waterfront, once held the title of tallest American building west of the Mississippi.) Other notable buildings are the Washington Mutual Tower, Two Union Square, Nordstrom’s flagship store, Benaroya Hall, the new Seattle Central Library designed by Rem Koolhaas, and the main building of the Seattle Art Museum (built 1991, expanded 2007), the main facade of which was designed by Robert Venturi.
Downtown parks include Westlake Park, Freeway Park, and Victor Steinbrueck Park. The Olympic Sculpture Park was completed on the Belltown waterfront in January 2007.
Downtown Seattle, from the top of the Space Needle (looking south). Beyond Downtown is the Industrial District.
Expansion
Downtown Seattle's population is growing, with a number of high and mid-rise condominium towers being constructed taking on a more Vancouver-like approach to urban living. Most of the new units are priced for the top end of the region's housing market.
In 1989, building heights in Downtown and adjoining Seattle suburbs were tightly restricted following a voter initiative. These restrictions were dramatically loosened in 2006, leading to the increase in Downtown high-rise construction. This policy change has divided commentators between those who support the increased density[1] and those who criticize it as "Manhattanization."[2]
On March 7, 2007, it was confirmed by the Seattle Times that the Trump Organization is interested in finding a site in Downtown Seattle for a hotel and residential condo tower. It would be the second of the Trump towers on the West Coast and the first in the Pacific Northwest. If everything goes to plan it would be completed by the end of 2009.[3]
Map of Downtown Seattle and other central neighborhoods; typically, only the portion west of Interstate 5 (the dark gray band) would be considered "Downtown".
Belltown:
Belltown is the most densely populated neighborhood in Seattle, Washington, United States, located on the city's downtown waterfront, on land that was artificially flattened as part of a regrading project. Formerly a low-rent, semi-industrial arts district, in recent decades it has transformed into a neighborhood of trendy restaurants, boutiques, nightclubs, and residential towers as well as warehouses and art galleries. Although many new businesses have eclipsed older ones, some venerated establishments still draw crowds of loyal patrons.
The area is named after William Nathaniel Bell, on whose land claim the neighborhood was built. The neighborhood is bounded on the north by Denny Way, beyond which lies Seattle Center, Uptown, and Queen Anne Hill, on the southwest by Elliott Bay, on the southeast by Virginia Street, beyond which lies the Pike Place Market and the rest of Downtown, and on the northeast by 5th Avenue, beyond which lies the Denny Triangle. All of its northwest- and southeast-bound streets are major thoroughfares (Alaskan Way and Elliott, Western, 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th Avenues); major northeast- and southwest-bound thoroughfares are Broad, Wall, and Battery Streets. The Battery Street Tunnel runs under Battery Street from Western Avenue to Denny Way and connects the Alaskan Way Viaduct to Aurora Avenue N.
The Olympic Sculpture Park, an eight and a half-acre public sculpture garden adjacent to Myrtle Edwards Park, is located on the northern edge of the Belltown waterfront. The park features contemporary pieces, various ecosystems with plants indigenous to the Pacific Northwest, and a restored beach and seawall. The park's construction was funded entirely with private donations and is operated by the Seattle Art Museum. Unlike other such parks in the United States, the Olympic Sculpture Park is unwalled, and admission is free. Being free however, Olympic Sculpture park is constantly patrolled by security guards that shuffle the usual street bums and homeless population to other parks just down the street in the seedier areas of Belltown. Belltown is also home to The Art Institute of Seattle and Mars Hill Graduate School and RealNetworks Headquarters.
"Film Row"
The McGraw-Kittenger-Case Building at the corner of Second and Battery, and behind that the William Tell Hotel. Beyond that, the former National Theater Building, now painted blue, can barely be seen.
Around 1910, the silent-era "Film Row" began with a film exchange in the Pathe Building 2025 Third Avenue (near Virginia Street, roughly at the southern tip of Belltown); eventually, silent-era film exchanges in Seattle serviced approximately 470 commercial movie theaters throughout Washington, Idaho, Montana and Oregon.[1] Concern about the flammability of nitrocellulose film resulted in the concentration of film exchanges in this single neighborhood, as a zoning issue.[2] Polk's 1923 Seattle City Directory shows 26 listings for "Motion Picture Machines and Supplies". All except the U.S. Army Motion Picture Service are within one block of the corner of Virginia Street and Third Avenue.[3]
From the 1920s into at least the 1960s, Second Avenue in Belltown was home to Seattle's second "Film Row." In 1928, just after the era of talkies began, the role of the Second Avenue film row was consolidated by the erection of the terra-cotta-ornamented, art deco Film Exchange Building (FEB, also known as the Canterbury Building) designed by Seattle architect Earl W. Morrison; it covered an entire block on the west side of Second Avenue, from Battery Street to Wall Street. [1] By 1930, Polk lists only 18 Seattle film exchanges; while Kodascope Libraries is at 111 Cherry Street in the Pioneer Square neighborhood, all of the others are on Second Avenue within a block of Battery Street (save only Columbia Pictures at First and Battery).[4] This situation was essentially unchanged in 1948: 19 entries under "Motion Picture Distributors and Film Exchanges", 15 of them in this same two blocks, and two of the others elsewhere in Belltown.[5]
Nothing remains of the FEB. Universal Studios was the last film business to pull out, in 1980. The building closed 1991 and was demolished 1992. Immediately south, the block of Second Avenue on the other side of Battery still contains many remnants of the Film Row era. The Jewel Box theater of the Rendezvous bar is the one remaining screening room in the neighborhood, but several other buildings remain. The McGraw-Kittenger-Case building on the southwest corner of Second and Battery was once the MGM building, and just south of it is the former William Tell Hotel, once the film industry favorite, later income housing,[1] (and for sale as of 2008). Farther down the block, the former National Theater Building now houses several small businesses. At 2332 First Avenue, Paramount's former film exchange building has housed the Catholic Seaman's Club since 1955; the ground floor is now the Del Ray restaurant and lounge, and the Catholic Seaman's Club is upstairs.[6][7]
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